Why Plants Die
Theme
Theme

Spotted laurel

Aucuba japonica, Garryaceae

Sources last read 13 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called Aucuba, blotch-leaved laurel, Blotched-Leaved Laurel, Gold Dust, gold-leaf plant, Japan laurel, Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel and variegated laurel.

No photograph yet
No photograph of Spotted laurel has cleared this site’s licence and credit check yet.

Spotted laurel is toxic

  • Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Toxic to people. The fruit is ornamental and should not be eaten. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it. RHS

What the sources say about its care

Sources file this plant under other names: Aucuba japonica 'Variegata', Aucuba japonica cv. Variegata. Citations below point at the name its source uses.

Light
Medium light 100 fc
Clemson Extension, filed as Aucuba japonica cv. Variegata · read 13 September 2026
Full shade, Full sun, Partial shade
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Water
Moist but well-drained or Well-drained
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Temperature

How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.

H5 — -15 to -10°C -15 to -10 °C
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Soil
Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or Neutral
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
The fruit is ornamental and should not be eaten. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
Grows in nearly any soil or position apart from soil that tends to become waterlogged; copes with full shade, dry soil, salty wind and pollution.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
Seed or stem cuttings can be used to propagate it.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Root semi-ripe cuttings between late summer and autumn.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pruning
Aucuba usually reaches 6 to 10 feet tall (occasionally 15 feet) unless pruned lower. Flowers form on new wood, so any pruning needed can take place in early spring and late winter.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Pruning group 1; hedges are trimmed in spring, and shrubs can be renovated with hard pruning in spring.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pests and diseases
Can be troubled by mealybugs, soft scale, armored scale and bifasciculate scale. Diseases: Phytophthora blight and root rot.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Usually free of pests. Diseases: honey fungus can occur.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.

About the plant

Aucuba japonica, commonly called spotted laurel, Japanese laurel, Japanese aucuba or gold dust plant (U.S.), is a shrub native to rich forest soils of moist valleys, thickets, by streams and near shaded moist rocks in China, Korea, and Japan. This is the species of Aucuba commonly seen in gardens - often in variegated form. The leaves are opposite, broad lanceolate, 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) long and 2–5 cm (0.79–1.97 in) wide. Aucuba japonica are dioecious. The flowers are small, 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) diameter, each with four purplish-brown petals; they are produced in clusters of 10-30 in a loose cyme. The fruit is a red drupe approximately 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter that is avoided by birds.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
SE. China to Temp. E. Asia
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
East Asia and Japan
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Temperate E Asia
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Climate
temperate
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
shrub
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Perennial, Shrub; habit arching, dense, erect, rounded
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Bushy (evergreen)
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 72–120 in; width 48–72 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Height 2.5-4 metres; spread 2.5-4 metres after 10–20 years
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Flowers purple/lavender, red/burgundy; blooms in spring
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Flowers purple in spring
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.